Seasons 1-6
54 assists per 82 games
2 Rocket Richard Trophies
Seasons 7-14
32 assists per 82 games
6 Rocket Richard Trophies
It just seems like there’s been a sacrifice to make these goal-scoring titles happen. Even when he finished 2nd to Carey Price for the Hart, he finished 8th in points-per-game because his 28 assists just weren’t great (the league leader had 60 assists).
Consider the following: Ovechkin had fewer points than the 2nd-place finisher in goals in 2013 (Stamkos), 2014 (Perry), 2016 (Kane), and 2019 (Draisaitl). If these players were as singularly-focused on goals as Ovechkin, it’s not inconceivable that Ovechkin loses his stranglehold on the Rocket Richard Trophy.
2016 wasn’t even close, as Kane had 60 assists to Ovechkin’s 21 - and only trailed by 4 goals.
I’m much more impressed by seasons like Kane’s, where a player has a lot of goals and a lot of assists, even if they don’t necessarily lead the league in either. Jagr’s career, for instance, was filled with high finishes in the goal-scoring race, but never at the cost of superb assist numbers.
So unless something substantial happens, I just don’t see Ovechkin as being more than a fringe top-15 player like he is now. If Crosby didn’t exist, however, I think people would view Ovechkin much, much higher. Because then, you wouldn’t have the obvious comparison point (with a more normal ratio of offensive production that makes Crosby easier to compare with players historically) that serves as almost a cap for how high Ovechkin will be rated.
I agree with this post. There's certainly value to what Ovechkin is doing, and it's conceivable that he'll end up as the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history by the time he's done - but the last time he recorded 40 assists was when he was 25, and that's suppressed his overall scoring totals. There have been 34 90+ point seasons from 2011 onwards, and Ovechkin doesn't have any of them (though he's had many close calls).
Not to drag Crosby into this, but one thing that's always bugged me is the "Ovechkin has more trophies than Crosby" argument. That's literally true, but it's because the NHL has an award that rewards Ovechkin's specialty (goal-scoring). Crosby (like Jagr) was a well-rounded offensive talent - and there's no trophy for that.
For example, in 2016 Ovechkin gets a trophy for leading the league in goals, but finished 15th in scoring. Crosby was 3rd in scoring, but gets nothing. Before someone says that Crosby scored more points because of secondary assists, even if we eliminate every single one, Crosby is still ahead (64 vs 56 primary points). So Crosby has more primary points production, but because he was nicely balanced between goals and assists, he gets nothing, but Ovechkin gets a trophy - that doesn't accurately reflect what happened on the ice.
2019 is another good example. Crosby was again a better primary points producer (84 vs 77). Crosby was a balanced scorer, Ovechkin was heavily slanted towards goals. So Ovechkin gets a trophy for being a less balanced player, but Crosby was more productive overall (and clearly a better defensive player). Again, that doesn't reflect the reality of what happened on the ice.
Ovechkin seems to have shed the "never been past the second round" stigma, and as I said, he very well could finish his career as the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history. If we're taking the Richard trophies (and/or LW all-star selections at face value - even though we shouldn't for either), he might end up with the largest trophy collection all-time among forwards (excluding the three I don't need to name). But I agree that Crosby seems to be a hard cap as to how high he can finish in the all-time rankings (which may not be much of a cap at all, as he very well could end up #5 all-time depending on how his career plays out).
